Guns for sale: Officer arrested for stealing firearms, allegedly to sell to civilians
A police officer has been arrested in Mandera County for making a deal with a civilian who wanted to buy two firearms stolen from Rhamu Police Station.
In a police report seen by this reporter, Police Constable Haron Sangaila was arrested alongside Mr Noor Ali Hussein, a civilian with whom he communicated on the night the firearms went missing.
Police say the two firearms went missing from the station’s armoury on June 17, 2023, and each was loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition.
“It was reported by Sergeant Adan Ali Abdi who is in charge of Olla Police Post that on June 17, 2023 at about 10am he was informed by Mr. Edwin Yego who was manning the post armoury that two AK 47 rifles loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition each were missing,” the report reads in part.
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It further revealed that the officers then said they suspected Mr Sangaila whose movement on the night the two rifles went missing was suspicious.
This prompted the officer in charge of the station to interrogate the suspect, who led police bosses to a nearby farm 400 metres from the station, where the two AK47 rifles were found.
Police say he had hidden them in the ground, and all 60 rounds of ammunition were found intact. They were then kept as evidence as officers prepared to charge him in court today, Monday, June 19.
Mr Noor was also arrested and detained in another cell and they are currently being interrogated by detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Mandera North Sub County.
The incident comes at a time when National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials have warned that Al Shabaab has a strong presence in the country and is planning a series of attacks.
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